


aiõnios and beyond

by stubbornrhino



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: 13th Century Italy, Alternate Universe - Ancient Egypt, Alternate Universe - Dinosaurs, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst in past lives, Blood and Violence, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Golden Age of Piracy, Happy Ending, Late Jurassic Period, M/M, Mentions of Death, Multi, Neogene Period, Past Lives, Pirates, World War II, firefly - Freeform, owl - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:20:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27876754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stubbornrhino/pseuds/stubbornrhino
Summary: aiõnios. without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be.Chanyeol and Junmyeon have taken countless forms, lived countless lives. And yet, they always have managed to come back to each other.
Relationships: Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23
Collections: Effective Fest Round 2020





	aiõnios and beyond

**Author's Note:**

> Following work has been written in fulfillment of prompt **#R230**.
> 
> • The use of historical characters and events depicted in this work is purely fictional. Even if the characters did exist in history, the events and the timeline are far from the reality and facts. More on them in the end notes.  
> • Please remember, Chanyeol will always be the older one and Junmyeon, younger than him.  
> • _italics_ represent the past.  
> • The terms used are rough on the transliteration so please bear with it. The brief Ancient Egyptian Glossary you’ll be needing is as follows:  
> su-nu – Healer  
> mriw – Beloved  
> inine ima – Love of sweetness  
> uyai ima – Beautiful love  
> sDAwtyw – Treasure  
> mr i tw – I love You
> 
> Alright then, without further ado....

_Two insignificant specks of energy... small, small pinpricks of something shiny found each other in the measureless dark space... two points of clear, shiny black in the sea of all consuming matte black, against the force of nothingness and everythingness._

_The darkness was blinding but the small dots weren’t much different either. So they stayed, revolving around each other. They went round and round and round and survived for no one knows how long. Time wasn’t a concept then. Neither was life or death or even birth._

_There was just existence and the two existences existed with each other, around each other._

_They kept coming closer and closer and closer still, pulling and pushing through the thick of mystery black....and finally, finally they touched._

_The light travelled for the first time then, soundless but oh so bright, illuminating everything in its path, razing and devouring the pitch black._

_And then.... then the universe came to be._

◾♦◾

“I can’t believe they went into labour on the same day.” Mr. Park nodded his head, agreeing with Mr. Kim. He paced the hospital corridor slowly. His wife’s delivery date was still a week away so it came as a surprise to them when she had to be rushed to the hospital after feeling contractions. Their son was early. He was assured that both, the baby and the mother, were safe and perfectly healthy but he was worried out of his mind.

“Sit down, my friend.”

Mr. Kim’s suggestion was taken into consideration and implemented a few seconds later. The man shook his head as his friend’s knee bounced rapidly, a sure sign of the anxiety he was currently feeling.

Mr. Kim was in the same boat. He just hid his feelings better. He patted Mr. Park’s shoulder as the tall man leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

“It’s going to be fine. All of them are going to be fine.” Mr. Kim said. The words were for him and his friend. He believed them. He believed that it was going to be a-okay.

“I admire your calm right now even though I know you are screaming inside.”

Both men laughed at that. They have been friends for long enough to exactly notice and understand how the other felt.

A nurse rushed over startling the men.

“Mr. Park.” The taller man stood immediately and gulped, shaking his hands to lessen the jitters but to no avail.

“Congratulations. It’s a healthy baby boy.”

That was enough for his knees to turn into jelly and he slumped on the chair again. He was a father now. A father to a son. He couldn’t believe it. He looked at his friend who was beaming at him and was about to speak when another nurse rushed in.

“Mr. Kim, would you like to see your son?”

The shorter man reacted the same way and collapsed into the chair beside his friend. This feeling...it was surreal.

He looked at his friend for some moral support.

The childhood best friends hugged each other tight, sharing the exhilarating feeling, their eyes wet and their hearts about to burst with happiness.

◾♦◾

The tag on the crib read: **[Park Chanyeol; July 03, 1991; 23:58]**

A baby bundled up in a soft yellow blanket was placed in it gently. His eyes roamed around...not seeing, not hearing, not comprehending. He was just a few days old, too young. His head rolled to the side following the shiny white metal bars of the crib and settled on something beyond.

Another tag: **[Kim Junmyeon; July 04, 1991; 00:01]**

Another similar crib was settled beside the first one. The baby occupied in this one was covered in a baby purple blanket. The baby rolled on its side trying to find a comfortable position and stilled as its eyes met someone’s past the bars.

Somewhere out there, galaxies exploded.

◾♦◾

**_Late Jurassic Period, North Africa_ **

_He was minding his own business, and a very serious business it was. He tiptoed carefully around a white dandelion and leaned down ready to blow on it and see the petals fly away in the gentle breeze._

_He inhaled deep and was about to exhale when a gasp startled him, making him flinch. It took him some time to manoeuvre his long neck and see where the sound came from. Usually this field was empty and no other creature ventured here. He turned around trying to locate the source of his disturbance._

_“You murderer!” The accusing voice came from behind him and he turned again. Damn this neck! He almost stepped on his tail in the hurry to see who it was. Damn this tail too!_

_After struggling with his long neck and an equally long tail for some time, he focused on setting his eyes on the cretin that dared to interrupt his dandelion time._

_“You ate it. I saw you.” The shrill voice reached his ears just fine and he curled inside. Someone saw him doing that? Shoot! He just wanted a change of taste._

_“I...what are you even talking about?” He stuttered still trying to see who was speaking._

_“I am down here, you murderer.” That’s when he felt someone hitting his feet and he looked down._

_There he was, a small brown thing, smaller than him at least. It reached the base of his neck and was looking at him with narrowed eyes. Was that a hill on its back?_

_“Yes, as I was saying, what are you even talking about?” His voice turned snobby and that received him another kick to his ankle. Ouch!_

_“I saw you eating that yellow dandelion over there!”_

_That made him flustered. He was guilty as charged. He did eat the flower. He liked how sweet they tasted, yummmm, and it’s not like an herbivore had many food options except different greens and some more greens._

_“Did not!” He shook his head. Deny, deny, deny. That’s how you get out of a sticky situation._

_“Did too!” The small being insisted, running in front of him in semicircles, making his eyes move from side to side, giving him a headache. “I can prove it.”_

_“Then prove it.” He had made sure to eat the flower in one bite. There was no way to prove his crime. The small creature stopped in front of him and clapped its front paws once._

_“You have a yellow petal stuck on your nose.”_

_That put him in a frenzy as he shook his neck trying to shake off the said evidence._

_“WHERE? Where?! I remember I ate it whole. I remember it clearly.”_

_His monologue was interrupted by a chortling sound and he looked down._

_“You’ve been busted!” The chortling continued and he was embarrassed. He admitted to eating the dandelion all by himself._

_“I...I don’t talk to dinosaurs carrying hills on their backs.” He turned away from the creature, making sure his tail bumped the other._

_Another gasp similar to the one he had heard a few moments ago, “That’s my spine, you doofus!”_

♦

**1993**

Two toddlers were playing with their toys.

Little Chanyeol moved his green Diplodocus toy towards Junmyeon's brown-reddish Spinosaurus.

"RAAAWRRRR." He roared in his squeaky voice and little Junmyeon giggled forgetting to play the role of a sassy dinosaur.

Chanyeol's dinosaur nudged Junmyeon's to prompt him to play along. Little Junmyeon smiled wide and patted Chanyeol's head then moved his dinosaur in circles before Chanyeol's.

"Saw...saw..." The two year old started in his vocabulary of full seventy-nine correct words and one wrong one. ‘Helicopter’ was a difficult word, okay?! And ‘Hopadopter’ sounded so much cooler that Chanyeol had adopted it too. "Junjun saw Yeollie nomnom dan-lon." He roared too for impact making the green dinosaur turn around in rapid circles.

"Zoozoozooooo..." Chanyeol made a zooming sound and Junmyeon joined him forgetting about the scene they were trying to re-enact.

They zoomed their dinosaurs together from one end of the room to another, their giggles echoing and filling the house with innocent joy.

♦

_He whooped as his body entered the cold water. He swirled around, scaring small fishes by showing his huge teeth and they scattered away from him, seeking some place to hide for their lives. He pretended to chase them for a few minutes and then emerged above the surface, breathing through his nostrils._

_Water was refreshing. It made him feel weightless and he liked that feeling. It was a bonus that he was the only terrestrial who was able to swim. He liked to show that off. Other dinosaurs were scared of him and he wanted to keep it that way because that meant his friend would be safe._

_Speaking of his friend, he looked around and found the green neck arched from far away at the shore towards the edge of the lake. The dandelion gorger liked to admire his reflection in the water. He scoffed. The dude was too soft for his own good._

_He ducked under the surface again, swimming swiftly but quietly towards the shore, just when he was near it, he surfaced abruptly and blew water over the green face, startling the other. He laughed as he watched his friend scramble, trying to control his long limbs and almost topple over._

_“I don’t like you.” The herbivore spoke as he finally retained his centre of gravity, the low grumble prompting another round of snickers from him._

_“Liar, liar, that green tail on fire.” He replied as he stepped out of the water, the droplets slipping off perfectly from his waxy skin. He shook his body to get the rest of the water off and stomped towards the green dinosaur he considered a dear since he found him in that field surrounded by yellow dandelions many seasons ago. He rolled his eyes as he saw the herbivore tucking his precious tail close to his body, sulking._

_He walked closer and rubbed the side of his brown body, spine and all, against the green one. To express that they were fine and he was joking and that the other was just being melodramatic as always._

_“Get away from me. I am getting wet too.” The grumbling did nothing to faze him and he snuggled closer, bumping his head to the green neck._

_Their friendship was an unusual one. Their natures were conflicting and by them, he was supposed to be the predator, while his dandelion murderer, the prey. But somehow, someway they had managed to strike an odd comradeship and he treasured it the most._

_“Wanna dip your feet in the water?” He asked sounding hopeful. “Just the ankles.” He added gently trying not to freak the green one out._

_“N-no.” He rubbed against the green body once more. He understood fear too well. He would wait for his friend to warm up to the water._

_“Wanna chase some creatures at the lava rock?” That perked up the green creature and he laughed as the long neck nodded too excitedly, the balance messing up again. He leaned against his friend, steadying him in the process, who looked down at him with gratitude._

_Then they made their way towards a gigantic rock sitting at the middle of the clearing a little away from the lake._

♦

**1994**

Little Junmyeon’s forehead scrunched up as he watched little Chanyeol throwing a tantrum at the edge of the swimming pool. He bobbed up and down, gently on the surface, a plastic ring around his chubby tummy. It was transparent and it had small suns on it, yellow and smiling. He liked it. His Yeollie had a matching one, with yellow smiling moons, but he refused to put it on. The thought made Junmyeon pout.

He watched as Chanyeol threw the ring on the floor and plopped down a little away from the edge of it, thrashing his feet on the stone floor.

“DON’T WANNA!”

The cries reached him and his eyes welled up too. He sniffled as he waddled in the water expertly and moved towards where his Yeollie was. Someone pulled him out of the water and the moment his feet touched the floor, he was running towards the crying boy, throwing his ring away too. The smiling suns joined the smiling moons on the floor near the pool.

Junmyeon plopped down beside Chanyeol and patted his head and back to comfort him.

“Yeollie okay. Yeollie okay.” He hiccupped trying to control his urge to bawl and that made the older boy stop crying too.

“Junjun okay?” Chanyeol asked as he held Junmyeon’s smaller hands between his small ones. The other nodded in response and he nodded back. Their ancient eyes doing more talking than their four year old brains could comprehend.

After some time, when they both were calm Junmyeon whispered, “Wanna pat da bunnies?”

Chanyeol nodded enthusiastically, pulling the other up as they ran to the backyard of one Grandma Do to give some sugar to the aforementioned small fluffballs.

◾♦◾

**_Early Miochene Epoch (Neogene Period), Cuba_ **

_A soft gurgling sound came from the hollow of a banyan tree as a barn owl pantalooned in a mix of buff and grey tried to go to sleep. But no matter how much she tried, sleep won’t come to her. Winters were more difficult. They made everything harsher. The warmth was difficult to find and the food was scarce. She squirmed some more and a frustrated screech left the hollow and broke the dead of the night._

_She refused to lift her tucked head out of the nest of her soft feathered wings and stubbornly stayed in the position, trying her best to not lose whatever warmth she had accumulated in the past couple of hours. But no matter how much she tried and how much she resisted, the cold crept in and the drowsiness left her once and for all._

_She huffed and puffed, the snoring sound of her unrest increasing and turning into another loud screech. Small insects scuttled on the forest floor, the sound of rustling leaves losing itself in the silent night._

_With another purr, she finally picked her head up, the feathers shaking and setting again, agitation obvious in their ruffled state. She made a sharp screeching sound and finally unfurled her wings, hopping onto the ledge of the hollow, the sharp-taloned feet balancing with ease on the narrow strip of wood. She blinked her eyes and looked up in the sky at the only source of light that night._

_The moon was oh so luminous, blue and bright and she blinked, the ball of light blinding her vision for a minute or two. She opened her eyes again to glare at the moon for daring to startle her and that’s when her peripheral vision was lit with another source of light._

_Confused and perturbed, her neck turned to the side trying to keep the moving dot of light in her vision._

_It was small, so so smaller than her, maybe smaller than her eye and flitted around leisurely. Its pace made it easier for her to keep track of it as it flew around the tree that housed her hollow. It flew up and up her sight went, neck tilting. She wondered what it was and why was it aglow? What made it possible? She had never seen anything like this before. The purr in the back of her throat increased as it came closer to her, closer and closer.....and then it settled on her head._

_She stumbled inside the hollow, lighting up the space, the bark alight and her eyes widened in surprise at first and then delight as her neck turned in a full circle, taking in the sight of her residence in a new light. Her screech was of pleasure this time. It was something new. Her adventurous spirit loved this chance encounter._

_The light flew off her head and she reached out with her wings, cradled it closer and looked at it in pure awe. It was magic, the way it blinked softly but never extinguished, the way it didn’t hurt her eyes like the moon did._

_The small ball of light lifted off her white feathers and circled her head twice, her neck revolving around, trying to see what it was doing. Her eyes crossed over as it neared and touched her between her eyes and flew away. She scrambled out of her hollow, searching for her magic but it was nowhere to be seen._

_The drowsiness returned after that and she went to sleep in a blink._

_From that night on, she waited for her light to appear but it never did. She searched for it far and wide but to no avail. Yet still....every night she waited._

♦

**1994**

“Geewaffe.” Little Junmyeon tapped at the picture of a tall necked animal with orange blotches in his picture book. He moved onto the next picture and giggled, slow. “Bunnee.” The picture of a fluffy white rabbit holding a carrot was funny to the toddler for some reason. “Meow-meow.” The cat was the most familiar of the animals on that page and so was the dog. “Gae.” His eternal partner, little Chanyeol took responsibility of barking, expressing how Junmyeon was right. They both giggled.

Junmyeon turned the page, laughter still shaking his body but went still immediately. His eyes widened and his lips pouted making Chanyeol scramble closer in worry.

“Yeollie.” Junmyeon pointed at something in his book and Chanyeol peered down at an upside down picture of a bird. “Yeollie.” Junmyeon repeated, his finger tapping insistently on the picture and Chanyeol nodded.

Watching the two toddlers, their heads close together and murmuring about something had the daycare lady intrigued. She crouched down on her knees and entered the conversation uninvited.

“No, Junmyeon. That’s an owl. O-W-L. Owl.” She said the name of the bird, emphasizing the vowels so that the toddlers would understand and learn to pronounce it the correct way. The toddlers looked at her with confused expressions.

“No. Yeollie.” He stamped on the picture with his whole chubby palm. “Owl bu’ Yeollie.” The lady shook her head and smiled.

“That’s an owl and they come out at night only because they sleep in the day.”

“Yeollie find Junjun at night.” The lady sat struck as Junmyeon turned pages after pages knowing exactly what he was looking for and then tapped on a picture. Chanyeol nodded his head rapidly and agreed as Junmyeon said it again, “Junjun. This Junjun.”

“Ah no, sweetie, that’s a firefly.” The lady stroked Junmyeon’s hair back and patted Chanyeol’s head and left to see how the other kids were doing.

“Fyfy bu’ Junjun.” Junmyeon’s whisper was soft this time and was only heard by Chanyeol who squeezed him tight, agreeing.

No, the lady didn’t understand. The owls were just as much a day animal as any other on the planet at that time. It started sleeping during the day because it searched for its firefly every night.

The toddlers sighed; being a three year old with infinite knowledge was frustrating.

◾♦◾

**1995**

Two toddlers were joined by two more.

Little Chanyeol and Little Junmyeon had two new, just as little as them, friends now. The bunch of four usually hung out together. Surprisingly, it was Chanyeol who was more open towards them. Considering Junmyeon was the extrovert out of the two, the little tyke was grumpy and clung to his Yeollie in the beginning. Slowly, Junmyeon’s reservations melted away like a cold popsicle in a hot summer afternoon and now the four were inseparable. They often created much headache around their households.

Do Kyungsoo, four, a small one was a man of few words. He was Grandma Do’s grandson and had moved in with her recently. He didn’t speak much but he was the best when playing hide and seek and he made sure everyone was safe while they were together. The other three saw him smile once, his big eyes turning into crescents behind his glasses and his soft, mellow giggles barely audible and they had vowed to protect him ever since.

Kim Minseok, was the total opposite. He had moved into a house across Grandma Do’s and talked everyone’s ear off and then some. Chanyeol, Junmyeon and Kyungsoo had gotten into a smooth habit of tuning out most of the gibberish he spilled most of the time but they loved him nonetheless. He was a chatterbox but he was a friend and that’s all that mattered.

They had decided on playing house today and it was a big deal to choose who wanted to take on which role. The toddlers had been in a serious discussion for more than five minutes and they weren’t reaching any definite conclusion.

Junmyeon sighed and lay down on the floor, his tiny limbs extended around him, resembling a star shape. “Junjun lamp.” He mimicked the said object by laying still in that position and doing nothing.

Chanyeol immediately nodded and sat near his Junjun’s head and held his chubby hands over the black haired head. “Yeollie lamp shade.” Junmyeon smiled at him and he smiled back. Then they both looked at the other two waiting for them to choose too. They watched in confusion as Kyungsoo slowly slipped on his stomach and put his head on his folded arms getting in a comfortable nap position.

“Soo?” Junmyeon asked in confusion not understanding what his friend was supposed to impersonate.

A muffled voice answered, “Carpet.” in a decisive tone and the others nodded their heads impressed by the choice.

Mineok bit his lip, “Okay. Fine.” He rolled his eyes and continued. “Radio.” That’s all he said as he sat cross legged on the floor and cleared his throat to deliver evening news.

Junmyeon and Chanyeol tuned him out successfully. Kyungsoo lightly snored. Minseok served his case and how he was deprived of an extra mandu this afternoon.

◾♦◾

**_1334 BCE, Egypt, Akhetaten (now known as Amarna site)_ **

_Smenkhkare stood on the upper terrace of the palace, looking at the blue river but not really seeing it. He was preoccupied, heavy thoughts swirling around his head drowning out the gentle sound of the vast blue flowing nearby. His lover was getting worse in health. The body was getting weaker, more fragile as the days passed and his worries were mounting. The royal su-nu was unable to locate the cause of ailment. The kingdom didn’t have anything to worry about because Nefertiti did her best and he helped when he could but no one knew of the King’s condition._

_His plump lips parted slightly and a sigh escaped them getting lost in the cool wind that was flowing from the direction of the river, his body cooled, his heart stayed hot and bothered. The constant concern that the news of ill health of the King would make its way to the enemies had aged both him and Nefertiti by decades. They had successfully managed to keep it hidden for two seasons now._

_He often wondered if this was because his King had decided to turn away from Amun, the god their ancestors had worshipped for centuries. Maybe gods had finally cursed his King, in turn dooming him to a life of misery and a heart full of agony. He didn’t think that a world without his lover would be a realm he wanted to breathe in, let alone stay._

_The palace that had been his home for the past fifteen seasons had suddenly started to feel unfamiliar. The vast passages started to close in on him, the stone pillars trying to step in his way every time he left his chambers, the knowing eyes followed him everywhere, some judging, some held pity for him, some full of lust and many glaring in distaste._

_As a royal consort, he was sought-after. As a regent of the King, he was despised. But not once did he regret choosing his lover over his freedom. His lover had given him much more than he ever dreamt of having in this life and he was content._

_Slight tremors ran down his back and his arms broke into goosebumps as the thought of his lover dying crossed his mind, his blue eyes welled up with tears._

_“What worries you, mriw?”_

_Akhenaten rasped. The mere words taking energy out of him, wringing him dry. He leaned on the cane he was holding. Recently, walking had become extremely difficult. His breath left his body as his lover turned towards him and he thanked all the holy gods for bringing Smenkhkare into his life. His lover had the beauty that’d probably render gods speechless too. The bronze skin, dark hair, high cheekbones and plump lips, his lover clad in all white was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen._

_Smenkhkare tried to smile but it ended up as a grimace as he rushed towards his Akhenaten to support his failing body._

_“You, inine ima. You worry me.” Smenkhkare hissed as he practically held Akhenaten against him and he felt the bones digging into his skin. His King was now far from his strong, regal statues that adorned the royal palace and the inner city._

_“And you worry me.” The King raised a shaking bony hand and traced his sharp cheekbone with a butterfly touch, so light he almost didn’t feel it. “You are weakening.” The light in his lover’s eyes was dull, the blue faded and pasty, eyelids heavy with unshed tears. It pained him that he was the cause for it all. “Be healthy, uyai ima. You’re my sDAwtyw.”_

_Treasure, that’s what his lover referred to him as. But what use was a treasure when there was no one to admire it, love it, care for it. He wanted to rage and throw a tantrum like he sometimes did when he was being petty and petulant. The words brought back the tears Smenkhkare was trying to will away. This time they spilled free and dropped down his chin and on their white royal garbs._

_“Help me.” Akhenaten pleaded his voice barely leaving past his lips as he flitted his eyes towards the edge of the terrace. A King pleading to his consort was unacceptable, unthinkable but they were past beyond that._

_Smenkhkare understood and led him forward till they could see the river and the whole capital city of Akhetaten from where they were standing. He didn’t know how long they stood staring at the sunset but what Smenkhkare would remember was the last words his lover spoke of and him returning them in kind before their lips met for the last time._

_“mr i Tw”_

_Even before the seventieth day of Akhenaten’s death, Smenkhkare passed away too. The grief overpowering him and chipping away at his spirit. In what would have been his sixteenth season in the royal palace, he was buried in the same tomb as Akhenaten’s, as was the Pharaoh’s wish._

_Later, when Tutankhamen moved his capital to Thebes, both the bodies were moved to the Valley of the Gates of the Kings and were rediscovered in Tomb KV55 in the year of 1907._

_Akhenaten’s life was pieced together to some extent, Smenkhkare’s remains enshrouded in mystery._

♦

**1998**

Little Yeollie and Junjun were little no more. They had turned seven recently. Their birthdays were just three hours apart so their parents had decided to celebrate it together since they were babies. The kids wanted the same so it had become a tradition in their households. This year it was the Kims hosting it. Next year, it would be the Parks.

The two birthday boys inhaled dramatically, filling up their plump cheeks with air and then blew on the lit candles, 14 in total. 7 for Junmyeon, 7 for Chanyeol. The thunderous claps echoed around and the boys giggled, already rubbing the blue frosting on each other’s faces.

“Mmmmmm.” Kyungsoo showed his appreciation for the cake as he devoured it after people started to chat and got busy with eating. The four best friends took their seats on the porch in the backyard stuffing their faces too. Chanyeol and Minseok nodded along, agreeing with Kyungsoo. Junmyeon watched them eat and slid his slice closer to Chanyeol who beamed at him and took a bite out of it.

Junmyeon leaned closer to Chanyeol who was talking about something he read recently in the encyclopaedia Junmyeon had gifted him a couple of days ago. Technically, it was Junmyeon’s parents who paid for it but Junmyeon had chosen it and had refused to budge from his choice of gift. Chanyeol, on the other hand had gifted him a globe. He had hugged Chanyeol close in excitement, ready to trace everywhere they had been in their previous lives.

Kyungsoo had shown up with two pairs of identical hand knit gloves, Grandma Do’s courtesy of course. Junmyeon chose the white and red ones while Chanyeol got the black and red ones. Minseok had arrived with two framed drawings. Both of them had their coloured handprints stamped on them. The four had made that during one of their fun art class project.

By the end of the party, the four exhausted and sleepy kids were carried away by their respective parents. Junmyeon and Chanyeol dreamt of two men, they didn’t know, speaking a language they didn’t learn. Minseok mumbled gibberish in his sleep while Kyungsoo dreamt of more cake.

◾♦◾

**2001**

Junmyeon sighed, his comically large yellow tea cup handle shook in front of him with that action. He looked at the scene unfolding before him in the middle of the stage and looked down, pout in full force, forehead wrinkling with worry. This play was definitely not what he had thought it was going to be.

Minseok’s voice boomed from behind him. He looked at his friend who was smiling wide, reading his lines. The joy on Minseok's face made Junmyeon want to smack his head.

**“When she arrived to the castle, she rushed up the stairs, calling, but there was no reply. Then she went to the garden, where she found the Beast lying on the ground, with his eyes closed.”**

He watched as the Beauty ran and knelt in front of the Beast, trying to wake him up. The dumbo ears of the beauty peeked out of the blonde wig. That was his Beauty!

 **“Don’t die! Don’t die!”** Chanyeol screamed shaking the Beast, fake sobs following right after. Junmyeon’s patience ran thinner. The shaking of the yellow handle increased.

 **“I’ll marry you!”** The Beauty spoke through his non-existent tears and that was the cue for the narrator.

**“At these words, a miracle took place. The Beast’s ugly face turned magically into the face of a handsome young man.”**

Junmyeon gulped as the Beast stood and removed his mask revealing none other than his other best friend, Kyungsoo. Soo looked handsome, very princely but the issue was that the Beauty was his. His teacher gestured at him to remove his costume. He looked down at his costume and decided then and there.

Several gasps echoed through the auditorium as Chip Potts strode towards the Beauty and the Beast and stood between them, gently pulling the Beauty up from his kneeling position. The teacher who was in-charge of the play hyperventilated on the sidelines.

Laughs replaced the gasps in the auditorium as the tea-cup accidentally knocked down the handsome Prince, former Beast, with his handle and threw the Beauty’s blonde wig on the floor, reaching over to massage Chanyeol’s red ears. The Beast falling turned into a domino effect and the characters fell one by one and so did the props. The rose ran around the stage with the candles chasing it. Minseok stayed true to the narrator’s role and described everything happening on the stage in detail.

With Minseok’s last sentence, which was screamed over the chaos and the closing curtains, the play reached its conclusion as the auditorium shook with loud laughter.

**“Then the Beauty ran away with one Chip Potts, the teacup, and they lived happily ever after.”**

◾♦◾

**2004**

The four boys stood defiantly as their P.E. teacher fumed in front of them.

Kyungsoo had forgotten to wear his tie and was to be punished for it. It was just because he didn’t like them and often searched for excuses to get out of wearing one. Mr. Im didn’t understand that Kyungsoo didn’t like the feel of it around his neck no matter how many times they had tried to explain it to him.

So in a stance of utmost solidarity, the other three had removed their neckties and stuffed them in their pockets. That had immediately earned them the punishment for breaking the dress code.

Chanyeol huffed, his hands on his knees and tried to regain his breath. Minseok lay on the grass, groaning and Kyungsoo sat on the nearby bleachers wiping the sweat off. He felt like dying as every gulp he took fell short to fill his body’s desperate need for oxygen. Physical exercise wasn’t for him alright. He felt familiar hands rub his back in small circles and then pull him up by the shoulders, straightening his spine and rubbing circles on his lower back.

“Better?” Junmyeon’s soft voice broke through his wheezing and he hummed, as he was finally able to breathe without feeling like his lungs were collapsing on him. “Park Chanyeol, you are a nuisance.” Junmyeon chuckled and Chanyeol’s arms broke into goosebumps, the sound filling his heart with warmth and joy.

“Hey, why am I the nuisance? It was Soo’s fault!” He said looping his arm over Junmyeon’s shoulder. The latter looked unbothered and hadn’t broken even a drop of sweat after making three rounds of the running track.

Chanyeol would never understand how Junmyeon would pack in meals after meals and never gain weight. It worried him because Junmyeon has always been on the slimmer side of the spectrum. His mother made sure to pack two portions of each meal so that he can share one with Junmyeon.

“Did I ask you to remove your ties?” Kyungsoo, hopped off the bench and stretched, trying to get the kinks out of his muscles.

“You think we did that to support you?” Minseok piped in with his two cents. “We did it to piss Mr. Im off. I like it when his nostrils look like they are ready to burst.” Minseok’s statement made all of them smirk as the image of the said man flashed before their eyes. That teacher brought out the worst out of everyone.

“Let’s do this again.” Junmyeon suggested knowing Chanyeol would hate it.

As expected, he groaned. Kyungsoo and Minseok’s snickers didn’t subside till they reached their classes.

◾♦◾

**2007**

High school was a bother to say the least. It was even more difficult when Junmyeon and Chanyeol couldn’t be together during it. Split into different divisions meant less time together and that made both of them sad and mopey.

As they grew up, all four of them started to show interest in different fields. Minseok leaned towards cooking while Kyungsoo towards acting.

Junmyeon and Chanyeol had discussed this in depth. Moving out of their small, uneventful town was a thought that had never crossed their minds before. After seeing the world in all its glory as well as misery, this simple, quaint life had come like a soothing balm to them. They were content with where they were, their families always understanding and supportive of their actions. But that in no way meant that they didn’t have dreams right now.

Junmyeon decided on Humanities as his major while Chanyeol went for Life Sciences. Hence, the bothersome different schedules.

“Oh please, Chanyeol, you’ll see him during our lunch break.” Another sigh made Kyungsoo lose his cool. “You are always joined at the hip. We split just ten minutes ago! What’s wrong with you two?”

Chanyeol decided to ignore Kyungsoo’s logic and pulled his hood up over his face, ready to go to sleep. Whatever lesson they were supposed to tackle today, he was sure he was well versed in it already. Kyungsoo poked his ribs with a sharp elbow which he just shook away.

Chanyeol often wondered about their past selves, even though he didn’t remember many of them, and how most of them didn’t necessarily have happy endings. This track of thoughts would always lead to thinking about the present and how it’ll be after two, five, ten, fifty years.

He had once asked Junmyeon what he thought of them, right here, right now and Junmyeon’s answer had been simple as he laughed beside Chanyeol. “What’s there to think about? We exist and we are together and that’s everything to me.” The confidence and certainty of Junmyeon’s response had struck a chord deep in his consciousness, giving him more than enough courage to hope for their future.

He was startled awake as someone banged their class door open.

“It’s Junmyeon.” Chanyeol was out of his seat and running before Minseok had finished his sentence.

He shoved people aside as he made his way towards....towards where? Maybe he should have asked Minseok some details before barging out. But now it was too late and he was running through the corridors, looking for Junmyeon. It didn’t take him long to notice a huge group of people gathered in front of the Philosophy classroom.

His height made it easier for him to see what the uproar was all about.

During the summer vacation, Chanyeol was hit with an unexpected growth spurt. To him, it felt like he grew several feet overnight and woke up to a whole new him. Junmyeon waited for his to come and often whined about how it hadn’t presented itself yet. He made sure to use Chanyeol’s height to his full advantage though and Chanyeol didn’t mind.

His eyes almost popped out of their sockets as he dived into the bunch trying to get to Junmyeon, who was at the center of it.

“I dare you to do it again.” Junmyeon was screaming, his voice shrill and it had been years since Chanyeol had seen the other like this. He watched, horrified, as Junmyeon dived for the boy, twice his size and scratched at the already bruised up face. “I dare you. Say it to my face, dickhead.”

Chanyeol rushed forward and inserted himself between the two bodies. The painted nails, pretty baby pink, dug into cheek but then instantly withdrew.

“Yeollie?” Junmyeon’s shocked state gave him enough room to push the smaller back and cage him securely in his arms. “What are you doing?!” He raised his eyebrow at the question.

“What are YOU doing?” He asked, his voice low, concern clear in it. His spine was bent down at an awkward angle trying his best to account for Junmyeon’s injuries. There were none.

Before Junmyeon could speak, someone behind him did.

“Keep your kitten away from me, Park.” That one sentence prompted Junmyeon to squirm in his hold.

“You talk to me, fucker. I will gouge your eyes—” Chanyeol was quick to put his palm on Junmyeon’s mouth muffling the remaining words.

“Control him before I teach him a fucking lesson.” Junmyeon went still for a second in his arms and his hold tightened around the boy. In another breath, he was turning and striking with all the strength he had in him. He felt the bone crunch under his knuckles. His hand went numb after the contact and he shook it to get the sensation back.

“Fucking language!” He said voice steady and strong. He gazed at the boy who was on the floor, holding his nose. “If you talk to him like that again, no, if I even see you close to him after this, I will—” This time Junmyeon jumped on his back and covered his mouth with his palm. Junmyeon’s disgusted squeal was loud in his ear as he licked the inside of the younger's palm.

“Whoa, Yeollie.” Junmyeon’s whispers painted with awe, slithered between them as they sat in the dispensary waiting to get their injuries checked out by the school nurse. “Whoa!” Chanyeol’s gaze was focused on Junmyeon’s hands.

“You chipped your nail paint.” His voice was gruff as he took the smaller fingers in his and examined them.

“That’s nothing compared to your bruised knuckles.” Junmyeon sharply twisted his wrist in Chanyeol’s grip, effectively grabbing the latter’s wrist and gazed at the knuckles. “I didn’t know you could punch.” Junmyeon said, star struck, caressing the bruises.

“I didn’t know either.” He confessed. Chanyeol was a nerd, while Junmyeon was the adventurous one. He had never swatted a fly in his life before so the punch came as a shock to him too. He flexed his fingers a couple of times in Junmyeon’s grip, equally awed.

Their eyes met over their intertwined fingers and they beamed at each other, their laughter muted in each other’s shoulders.

“Why were you scratching him anyways?” Chanyeol asked, his words coming out in wheeze.

Junmyeon shrugged nonchalantly and that made Chanyeol raise his eyebrow in challenge. “I told him you were off limits. He didn’t listen.”

He shook his head in exasperation and rubbed his knuckles on Junmyeon’s forehead sharply, earning a surprised gasp from him. “You, Junjun, are trouble.”

Junmyeon was about to speak when the nurse entered and that shut him up. Chanyeol tried his best not to chuckle as Junmyeon lolled his tongue out and made faces behind the nurse’s back.

This debacle got them into a detention for the next three months.

◾♦◾

**_1290, Italy, Florence_ **

_Dante sat in the corner of his room, numb. The news he received just might have rendered his heart immobile, it might as well have killed him. He would have preferred that to this bone numbing agony, this emptiness, this loss of purpose of his life._

_His love had passed away, today, at the tender age of twenty-five._

_He grieved for days and those dark days turned into unending lifeless months. His grief was colossal, so intense he found it difficult to deal with it. He picked up his quill and shaped his grief into words and onto paper._

**_[“In quella parte del libro de la mia memoria... si trova una rubrica la quale dice:_ ** **Incipit vita nova” _]_**

**_[_ “ _In that book which is My Memory...On the first page that is the chapter when I first met you appear the words:_ ‘Here begins a new life.’” _]_**

_He remembered, clearly, the first time he saw his love. She was 8 and he was 9. It was at the Portinari house for a May Day party his father had taken him to. He saw her there among the other children her age. His eyes focused on her and stayed that way for the whole time he was there. She came dressed in crimson and he was instantly smitten._

**_[“At that moment I say truly that the vital spirit, that which lives in the most secret chamber of the heart began to tremble so violently that I felt it fiercely in the least pulsation, and, trembling, it uttered there words: ‘Ecce dues fortiori me, qui vniebs dominabitue michi: Behold a god more powerful than I, who, coming, will rule over me.’”]_ **

_Their families had summer villas, near the hill of Fiesole and he often wished to see his love but that wasn’t to happen for years to come. Time passed and he got married. He heard his love got married too. He lived like that not knowing, often wandering the streets of Florence to catch a glimpse of her...and one day....one day he did._

_Exactly nine years later he saw her again._

_She was walking along the Lungarno between two older ladies. He still remembered how struck he was when he saw her clad in whitest of white, beautiful. He remembered how he stood on the sides, his eyes following her graceful movements as she passed by. He never expected anything from her, she didn’t even know a peasant like him existed, had feelings for her but then she did the unthinkable, the unpredictable._

_She turned and greeted him._

_It was the first time her voice had reached his ears and it pierced his soul. He wondered if this is how angels sound. He was so overwhelmed by it that he did the only thing he could think of at that time. He turned and ran away, maneuvering through the crowd, intoxicated and dazed. He searched for solitude and he found it in his own chamber. Sleep overcame him whilst he was thinking of her and he dreamt._

**_[“God has graced her with an even greater gift: whoever speaks with her shall speak with Him.”]_ **

_From that moment on, it would be his Blessedness and him. She was closest to the grace and he admired her from afar. She deserved to be written about, sonnets and proses and what not, so he did, he wrote for her. He wrote about her, praised her beauty and virtue and her existence that blessed everyone she had as barely as gazed upon even once, in passing. Whenever she walked the streets, people came running to catch a glimpse of her and that gave him immense joy. She was gentle, pure and made of everything pleasant and that awed him beyond belief._

**_[“She is the sum of nature’s universe._** **_To her perfection all of beauty tends.”]_ **

_The more he loved, the closer he felt to the God himself because for him she was Him and He was her._

_He saw her again, at a wedding. She was standing amongst many other ladies but she was luminous, more so than the others. His eyes refused to stray from her and he almost fainted in her presence. He leaned against a wall, trying to regulate his heart as his hands trembled and he heard the ladies laugh. He was embarrassed. Maybe they noticed his feelings for Beatrice and were making fun of him. But after some time he realized his secret was still safe. No one knew and he continued with his affection for her, unknown to her and soul consuming to him._

_He was composing a canzone and was finishing up a stanza when the news came. He was devastated, his sanity destroyed, his heart torn apart, unrepairable, into infinite fragments._

**_[“...the eyes are conquered, and have no virtue_ **

**_to gaze at anyone who looks at them._ **

**_And they are now become two passions_ **

**_For weeping and revealing sorrow_ **

**_and they grieve so much that Love_ **

**_rings them with the crown of suffering.”]_ **

_Beatrice was immortalized in Dante’s renowned works. Ironically, she never knew of Dante’s love and admiration for her._

**_[“I hope to write of her what never yet was written of any woman.”]_ **

♦

**2008**

Chanyeol woke up, gasping and struggling to breath. He stumbled out of his blankets and off the bed, steps unsteady as he was still not fully awake. Rubbing his tears on his t-shirt, he hurried out of his room, almost falling down the stairs. His lethargic limbs still trying to catch up with his active mind. He wrenched the front door open and ran into their front yard. Without stopping even for a second he jumped the small fence between the Park and Kim residences, landing smoothly on the other side.

In a few long strides, he was crossing Junmyeon’s front yard and ringing the doorbell persistently. His index finger was stuck to the small button beside the bottle green door. The longer it took for the door to open, the faster his heart raced, the more intense his desperation became.

The need to see Junmyeon, to make sure he was safe and alive, building inside him, firing up his sleep needled senses.

The door was opened by a grumpy looking Mrs. Kim and he stopped ringing the bell immediately, now resorting to banging on the wooden panel.

“Yeol?!”

“Junmyeon.” He gasped out. One word that should be enough of a reason for Junmyeon’s mother to allow him entrance, which she did, worry lines clear on her forehead. He ran past behind her and towards Junmyeon’s room on the first floor, barely succeeding in not knocking the small statured lady down. Muddy footprints followed him as he jumped two steps at a time and was in front of Junmyeon’s bedroom in a few seconds.

Hesitating for a breath, he wiped the sweat on his forehead with his shaky fingers and opened the door gently so as to not wake Junmyeon up. Not everyone was crazy like him to be barging into people’s rooms in the... who knows what time it was right now.

He entered into the dimly lit room. Junmyeon’s small Egyptian night lamp, a gift from him, glowing soft yellow above his headrest, shedding light on the sleeping figure below. Junmyeon’s white t-shirt was visible and Chanyeol’s knees shook as he stepped inside the room, the door slightly ajar behind him, as was the rule in both their homes whenever the two were together, alone.

They had laughed awkwardly when their parents first proposed the ground rules to them over a joint meeting at Park’s over breakfast one day. No funny business under their roofs, they had said, at least till they turned 18 and legal. Both of them had blushed bright red in embarrassment and nodded their heads along, hoping to get the birds and the bees talk over with as soon as possible.

There wasn’t a single ounce of doubt between them that they were in love with each other. Even before their young minds understood what the word meant, their instincts knew. The love they had spanned over the lifetimes and the emotional spectrum. It wasn’t just restricted to romantic love or carnal lust, it went deeper than that, beyond human words or concepts would ever be able to elucidate it. It sang true in their bones and it thrummed in their cells. The personal unconscious built up of millenniums worth of memories.

They weren’t in a relationship as was a common understanding among their acquaintances. Not yet, at least. But they didn’t deny it either whenever the topic arose. There wasn’t any need to when they knew that they were predestined and wouldn’t want it any other way anyway.

The thought of their parents thinking they were horny teenagers desperately looking for every chance they get to do the deed was hilarious to them. They were just going with the flow and trying to find their own pace. And their pace right now, included everything innocent and nothing beyond that.

He moved around the furniture in the room, the dim light not hindering him one bit since he spent as much time in this room as Junmyeon did in his. His eyes were still locked on Junmyeon. He was wearing the white pajamas with small pink bunnies on them. The white was stark against the dark sheets.

The sight of Beatrice clad in white, walking along on _Lungarno_ came back to his mind, his tears and heartache increasing. He dropped down on his knees beside Junmyeon’s bed, trying to assure his racing heart that everything was fine, trying his best to create a barrier between the past and the present. They were okay. They were going to be okay. He quietly sobbed in relief, his face in his palms, trying to get his frayed emotions under control.

“Yeol?” Junmyeon’s soft whisper made him look up. He was confused, his eyebrows arched lopsidedly. “You scared me.” His locked limbs started to relax as he heard Junmyeon’s voice. “Are you...are you crying?” Junmyeon was up and switching on the bedside lamps, sliding down beside him on the floor in an instant.

Small fingers cupped his face, thumbs wiping off the cooling tear tracks on his cheeks. “You are freezing.” Junmyeon hugged him close, arms wound around his shoulders. Junmyeon’s slighter body fitting against his bigger one perfectly. “What’s wrong, Yeollie?”

Chanyeol tightened his arms around Junmyeon’s waist and slotted his head against Junmyeon’s shoulder. It was an odd angle for him but he took whatever comfort he could get.

“You died.” He felt as the other boy stopped breathing and he continued, “Beatrice died.” Few more stray tears slipped past his eyelashes and on Junmyeon’s pajama top. He was afraid of how Junmyeon would react but he shouldn’t have been.

“But I am alive,” Gentle hands rubbed his back. “I am alive and right here. With you.“

He felt more grounded in Junmyeon’s embrace. And suddenly he was so, so tired, the adrenaline rush leaving behind nothing but exhaustion. His torso slumped forward, putting more weight on Junmyeon who wobbled a little.

“Let’s get you to bed.” Junmyeon’s offer sounded so tempting but he wasn’t sure if he would make it back and he mumbled something along those lines. Junmyeon’s chuckle was warm and full of life in his ear. “In _my_ bed, silly.”

“B-But mama Kim—“

“She understands.” That was all Junmyeon said as he helped Chanyeol up and was about to usher him under the sheets. “Did you run here barefoot?!” Junmyeon hissed and Chanyeol looked at him sheepishly.

When they were settled under the sheets, Junmyeon’s fluttering heartbeat lulled Chanyeol to a dreamless sleep.

◾♦◾

**2009**

Junmyeon hurried to his locker and pointedly avoided looking at the bright coloured posters stuck everywhere around the school. The blue and the red mocked him as he passed them by. The theme was Fire and Ice. It was of no use to him. The Prom was of no use to him.

Reason? He didn’t have a date. No one had asked him.

No one being the tall, elf eared, stupid looking giant who was leaning on his locker, smiling at him with hearts in his eyes, waiting for him to join him and their best friends for lunch outside.

He stopped in front of his locker waiting for Chanyeol to move, which he didn’t and Junmyeon gritted his teeth in annoyance. “Do you mind?” His sharp tone instantly affected Chanyeol’s bright smile and a tiny sprout of guilt budded in his heart.

“What’s wrong, Junjun?” Chanyeol held his shoulders and looked him up and down turning him around to see if he was hurt somewhere. Junmyeon’s insides melted at the nickname but he refused to let go of his pettiness. He sighed and moved away from Chanyeol and shoved his books inside the locker.

“I am fine. Don’t worry, Yeol, just tired.” He tried his best not to sound sad but he was sure he failed as he felt Chanyeol placing his chin on his shoulder.

“Tell me!” The whine made his lips twitch at the corners and he ruffled Chanyeol’s hair, a little bit too aggressive than he usually did.

“I am fine.” His words were followed by him shutting the door of his locker, symbolizing the end of the conversation. He turned towards Minseok and Chanyeol shuffled behind him, never moving his chin from its perch. Their friend was looking at their display of affection with disgust clear on his face.

“Your power is astounding.” He made gagging sounds which made Junmyeon kick him in the shin. “I am going to throw up even before I eat my lunch.”

“You are stupid, Seok,” Junmyeon swore that he could feel Chanyeol’s pout through the words. “We are the cutest. You are just jealous you are not the campus couple.”

“Really, Chanyeol?” Junmyeon sighed again as Minseok reached above him and swatted Chanyeol on the head. “I am the stupid one?” Junmyeon shook his head slightly so that Minseok won’t spill the beans.

Minseok knew. Kyungsoo knew. The whole school thought they were going together for the prom because there was no way they wouldn’t and here he was, a day before the prom, still waiting for his “boyfriend” to ask him out. And this so called boyfriend was clueless about all of this.

Junmyeon had dropped hints. A lot of them. But Chanyeol hadn’t picked a single one. Not a single one! He was thicker than a troll.

Junmyeon jerked his shoulder and Chanyeol’s chin bounced on it, but didn’t move still.

“Kyungsoo isn’t joining us for lunch?” They moved away from the lockers and towards the back door.

“No. He is busy with the final preparations for tomorrow.” Junmyeon nodded at Minseok’s response. Kyungsoo was supervising the prom this year and last time he heard, Kyungsoo had made at least three people cry.

Chanyeol whistled under his breath then and Junmyeon felt the breath on the shell of his ear. “If you treasure your lives, you do not want to go near him till the prom is over. He almost bit my head off when I peeked inside the gym to ask him about the lunch.”

Junmyeon felt for Kyungsoo. The baby was just trying to do his best and he was sure Kyungsoo wasn’t going to eat anything till he was force-fed. “I will drop by with his lunch.”

They settled on the single set of faded red plastic table and bench in the corner. Chanyeol and him on one side of the table and Minseok on the other. This had been their hangout place since they entered the high school.

Chanyeol and Junmyeon opened up their packed lunches and swapped them instantly not sparing a glance at the contents of it, already aware of how their mother packed lunches according to the other’s preference. Minseok didn’t bat an eyelash at the routine. He had been privy to it for years, after all.

“Why doesn’t Kyungsoo get angry at you? That’s unfair.” Minseok whined as he dug into his own lunch.

“Because I am his baby and he is mine.” Junmyeon smiled through his bite, his fluffy hair shining under the sunlight. Chanyeol was quick to quip in.

“Then whose baby am I?” The offended tone made Junmyeon snicker as he just shrugged in response.

“You do not dare to look at me, Park Chanyeol.”

Minseok warned as Chanyeol turned the full power of his puppy eyes on him. Junmyeon laughed, momentarily forgotten about his problem.

The next day, Junmyeon was rolling on his bed in his sweats, music blasting out of the speakers. He rolled some more, rotating in the middle of the mattress, lazying around. It’s not like had anywhere to be.

He hummed the song, off key and was about to scream his heart out to Coldplay’s Yellow when he noticed Chanyeol entering his bedroom. He was the last person Junmyeon wanted to see at the moment.

“Jun, we are matching our ties, right?” Chanyeol asked casually, his eyes down and fingers fumbling with a dark neck bowtie.

“EXCUSE ME?” Junmyeon’s affronted tone made Chanyeol look up and his eyebrows furrowed.

“Ummm....why aren’t you ready yet?”

Chanyeol’s question made Junmyeon sit up, his unwashed and unkempt hair more unruly than usual as they stood up due to the static electricity it created with the bedsheet.

“Ummm...ready for what?” He asked, now thoroughly confused.

“For prom....?” Chanyeol looked at Junmyeon as if he was talking one of the past languages they often saw people speaking in their dreams.

“I am not....going?” Junmyeon’s sentence trailed off into a question as he sat cross legged on his bed, ready to dip down and start rolling again.

Chanyeol leaned down and reached over touching his forehead with the back of his hand. “Are you okay? Your temperature seems fine.” Chanyeol’s genuinely puzzled expression ticked Junmyeon off.

“Who am I going with then?” Junmyeon asked, his anger rising by the second.

“Of course, me, who else?” Chanyeol scoffed and Junmyeon reached his limit.

“YOU NEVER ASKED ME, YOU IDIOT!”

Chanyeol balked at Junmyeon’s outburst. His face contorted into an expression that was partly shocked, partly perplexed and partly amused.

“I was supposed to?” Chanyeol scratched the back of his head. “I thought it was self-explanatory. I mean who else am I supposed to go with if not my future husband?”

“Whoa! Whoa!” Junmyeon’s anger turned into amazement as he rose on his knees and scooted towards Chanyeol. “Slow down, tiger.”

“What’s there to slow down about? We are going to get married someday so...” Chanyeol’s casual attitude about their future made Junmyeon’s heart flutter. In the past, they always had too many complications.

“We are?” Junmyeon was now closer to the edge of the bed, closer to Chanyeol.

“Of course we are, Junjun.” Chanyeol’s voice softened into a low gruff. It was reserved for Junmyeon and Junmyeon only. The affection in that voice washed over him in waves and his heart felt like ready to burst.

“We aren’t officially dating yet.” Junmyeon pointed out, his cheeks plumping up as he smiled, smitten and totally head over heels with the boy standing in front of him.

“I literally introduce myself as, “Hello, I am Park Chanyeol and I love Kim Junmyeon,’” Chanyeol said reciting his usual self presentation.

“Well, I do the same!” Junmyeon replied haughtily, his face scrunching in an adorable mess that made Chanyeol’s heart skip a beat. The taller stepped closer, invading Junmyeon’s private space and touched their foreheads. Junmyeon looped his arms around Chanyeol’s neck.

“Who said we aren’t together then?” Junmyeon closed his eyes and smiled.

“Me. I am saying it, because you never asked me.” The teasing lilt in his voice made Chanyeol groan.

“This is unfair.” Junmyeon opened his eyes and his eyes twinkled at Chanyeol’s pout. He puckered his lips and pecked the pout. Junmyeon threw his head back and laughed at Chanyeol’s eyes popping out of their sockets.

“They are warm.” He cooed at the big ears turning deep red and covered them with his palms, they were the perfect size for the job. Chanyeol pouts again and he couldn’t stop himself from kissing it away again. This time it wasn’t just a chaste peck.

Their lips met and tried to meld together, moving softly against each other, territory unknown, avant-garde. The arms slid tighter around each other, Junmyeon almost lifted off the bed, neck stretched upwards, trying to accommodate Chanyeol’s height. Their lips struggled to find a rhythm that was just their own, different and separate from their past, more experienced selves. Their heads tilted, the minuscule space between them extinguishing and breaths uniting as Junmyeon’s lips opened and Chanyeol’s invaded the offered space. Junmyeon moaned, a mellow sound that triggering Chanyeol’s own.

They found the rhythm that was just their own and no one else’s, first of its kind and lost their surroundings in the process.

They had at last reached a milestone in their relationship where they were able to express their romantic affection outwardly without any qualms. Junmyeon had imagined their first kiss before multiple times. He had expected it to be volatile and something that will blow him away. But it was nothing like that. It was like lava, slow and simmering but burning hot, the kind of hot that left a scorched trail behind it, later cooling and changing the landscape in its wake permanently.

They knew there was no going back from here.

“I’ve awaited for a long time to do this.” Chanyeol whispered against him lips and he agreed, nodding jerkily. His body needed some time to get back to its regular functioning. He had waited just as long. “Are we dating now?”

“Hmmm. My boyfriend forgot about the prom. He isn’t good at his duties.” Junmyeon’s chin raised in challenge.

“Ah you see, mine forgot about it too.” Junmyeon mirrored Chanyeol’s triumphant smirk.

“If you hadn’t come in here, I was going to be knocking your door down...” Junmyeon turned his head and looked at the clock on the wall. “...in about ten minutes.”

◾♦◾

**2009**

Chanyeol climbed down the stairs, excitement coursing through him and stopped abruptly at the landing. There were too many people in his drawing room, too many for his liking that is, and they were all looking at him. He gulped.

“Er...what’s happening?” He cautiously approached the group standing in the middle of the room, smiling at him creepily. He looked at his parents and then Junmyeon’s. No one said anything. “I didn’t do anything, I swear.” He raised his hands in the air, palms open, hoping to prove his innocence and racked his brain for anything he might’ve done to get himself in trouble with the elders. His eyes narrowed at Minseok and Kyungsoo standing close by and trying their best not to laugh.

His eyes moved and he saw Junmyeon sitting on the sofa, all dolled up. Chanyeol’s eyes widened at the pastel pink sweater he was wearing paired with a simple pair of dark blue jeans rolled up at the ankles. His dark hair was as fluffy as always, bangs falling on his forehead. It was the softest, Junmyeon’s hair. His jaw fell open at Junmyeon’s blinding smile, almond-shaped eyes going crescent in an instant and his brain kind of forgot how to function for a moment.

“Junjun?”

“They know.”

They spoke at the same time and Chanyeol’s confusion turned into horror. He looked at the hungry piranhas in the room and stepped back. Oh no no no. This was going to be embarrassing. He debated about running away through the back door and looked at Junmyeon, trying to express the plan B: Run and don’t look back!

But before he could make a run for it, his mother grabbed his ear, twisting it. He screamed. It didn’t even hurt that much. “Is that what you’re wearing?” She looked at his sweatshirt and jeans combo and made a face. “You possibly can’t wear this on your first date.”

Ah, there it was. Their first official date. He sighed and rubbed his ear.

They had set up their first official date a few days after the prom. The reason to keep it hush-hush was simple. Their families won’t let them breathe if they got to know about this .... which they did apparently. He assumed it was the fault of two hyenas with loud mouths.

He directed a murderous glare at the two teenagers and loud laughter spilled out of the two. He marched towards them and was instantly pulled back.

“Park Chanyeol, change. Now.” The order was final. No one dared to defy Mrs. Park. His shoulders slumped.

“But Ma, we are going for a stroll, nothing fancy.” He tried to present his case but Mrs. Park was watching him with her arms crossed and eyes resolute. He looked at Junmyeon who gave him an encouraging nod and he turned away, his displeasure clearly reflected in his stomps up the stairs.

“And comb your hair.” His mother was going to drive him off to the deep end.

“I already did!” And he did. He had actually gone to lengths to get his unruly curls to behave. It wasn’t his fault that they had their own will.

After one hour of fuss later, the two were finally allowed to leave. Their parents had taken their photos as if this was another dance they were attending. Chanyeol had sulked throughout the photoshoot while Junmyeon had been beaming. They were cooed and oohed over and finally with a reminder of their curfew time, they were sent off on their date.

Junmyeon grasped Chanyeol’s hand and intertwined their fingers as they walked without any particular destination in their mind. He surreptitiously threw glances at the boy beside him.

“What?” Chanyeol tightened his grip around Junmyeon’s, halting them in their steps. “Spill it, Jun.” Chanyeol rolled his eyes and Junmyeon stood on his tiptoes, smoothing down a curl that was peeking its head up on his forehead.

“I was just thinking of how many admirers I will have to fight off tonight.” Junmyeon presses a fleeting kiss on Chanyeol’s nose, making the tip of it tremble cutely. “Infinitely handsome Yeollie.”

“Funny how I was thinking the same thing.” Chanyeol’s eyes twinkled as he brushed his thumb lightly over his boyfriend’s lower lip. Junmyeon’s stomach flip-flopped. “Utterly breathtaking Junjun.” The compliment made Junmyeon blush and he smiled bashfully at his boyfriend.

“I cannot believe you actually combed your hair.”

“Stoppppp.”

Junmyeon’s giggles echoed behind Chanyeol as he pulled the smaller by their still joined hands.

Hours later and they were standing in front of their houses, under the lamppost that was positioned between their properties, their joined hands hung between them, swaying from side to side to no particular rhythm. They stared at each other, not speaking a word. Silence had never felt so comfortable before.

Chanyeol unclasped one of his hands only to rummage through his pockets for something. He pulled out a leather pouch and beamed at Junmyeon. The smaller of the two could feel his excitement mounting, reflection of how Chanyeol hastily loosened the strings at the top of the pouch.

“I had something made for us.” He said and pulled out two lithe braided ropes of leather with metal clasps at their both ends. One brown and one black. “This is yours.” Chanyeol murmured as he easily fastened the brown one around Junmyeon’s wrist. “And mine.” Junmyeon nodded and immediately took the black one and fastened it around Chanyeol’s wrist, mimicking his actions from a few seconds ago. “Open your palm.”

Junmyeon did, now more intrigued as Chanyeol upturned the pouch, shaking it and two small, shiny objects tumbled out of it and onto Junmyeon’s open palm. He pulled his hand closer and looked at them. They were charms. Two of them. An owl and a firefly.

His heart ached and his eyes immediately welled up. “Y-Yeollie...”

“I figured it’d be better to keep them all alive through us. After all, they are a part of us. They will always be.” Chanyeol attached the firefly charm on the leather band around Junmyeon’s wrist.

Junmyeon agreed, nodding and sniffling as he did the same with the owl charm.

Their fingers united again, this time the charms shining around their wrists as the light hit them at different angles when their hands resumed swaying.

“This is perfect. Thank you.” Junmyeon gained purchase on their hands and pushed himself on his tiptoes again, ready to press their lips together. A perfect goodnight kiss to end a perfect date.

But that wasn’t to be as the lights in both of their porches started blinking. On and off they went. Again and again.

“Yeah we get it!” Junmyeon screamed, knowing their parents would hear them clearly. He sighing loudly. “This is going to be difficult, isn’t it?” His whine made Chanyeol laugh and pull him closer.

“We will be fine.” They made do with forehead kisses that evening but that didn’t dim their wide smiles and pink blushes.

Their clasped hands stretched between them up to the last moment till they had to split up for that night.

◾♦◾

**2016**

“Yeol, please switch it offff.” Junmyeon whined shoving his face under the pillow as the alarm broke through their serene morning. The sound shut off immediately. He felt Chanyeol pecking his arm twice in acknowledgement before tucking the blankets around him securely and leaving the warmth of their bed.

“You sleep some more, I will wake you in an hour or so.” And with that Junmyeon was off to la la land again.

What he next woke up to was his boyfriend stroking his hair, he snuggled closer to the warmth and flinched away immediately, making Chanyeol chuckle.

“I just took a bath.” Junmyeon whined as Chanyeol rolled him over locking him in place and shook his head, small droplets of water flying everywhere.

“Noooo...” Junmyeon tried to get away from the pseudo shower but failed.

“Stop. Stop!” His screams turned into giggles as his boyfriend started blowing raspberries on his tummy. Chanyeol was his personal tickle monster. By the time Chanyeol stopped attacking him, Junmyeon had tears in his eyes.

“I can’t see. Damn you, Satan.” Junmyeon’s complaint was immediately looked into and Chanyeol wiped the tears off, clearing Junmyeon’s eyesight.

“Hello. I love you. Let’s spend our lifetime together.” Junmyeon scoffed at his boyfriend’s smile.

“In. Your. Dreams.” With each of the word he uttered, he poked the dimple that cradled his sanity in its existence and Chanyeol’s smile widened more.

“You will marry me one day.” Chanyeol sing-songed and Junmyeon’s face morphed into a fond expression.

“I will not.” Junmyeon shook his head heatedly.

But soon he shrieked loud as Chanyeol resumed his attack.

◾♦◾

**_October 1720, Jamaica, Negril_ **

_They were in their chamber, bodies naked under the sheets, tired muscles resting. The inside of the chamber was relatively quiet unlike the beach they had decided to dock their ship on. The rum party on the shore was in full swing. Pirates were known as a rowdy bunch and it was true._

_September had been pretty eventful for them but it was tiring too. Piracy was a tiring profession by nature. She had chosen to take a rest with her lover instead of getting drunk._

_“Darling, let us join the others.” She suggested and her lover groaned, stretching her body._

_They slid out of the sheets and started dressing up. Loose blouses under billowing jackets helped them hide their breasts. The ensemble was completed with long trousers. At last, they tied handkerchiefs around their heads. Staying disguised as men on the ship was necessary because their crew wasn’t aware of their gender, except John. They tucked in their weapons in their respective holsters and closed the door of the chamber behind them._

_The chamber was once John’s and hers only. Her relationship with Captain John “Calico Jack” Rackham had been smooth sailing till one Mark Read stepped aboard William. Her instant interest in Mark was unavoidable. He was brave and witty and she couldn’t help but confess her feelings to him after being on the ship for mere few months. Telling Mark that she was a woman was a difficult decision for her. She contemplated about it for days, finally giving in to the attraction she felt for him winning over his rationality._

_What she had never, in her wildest dreams, expected was that of Mark to be in a similar predicament as hers, a female disguised as a male. Mark was actually a Mary Read, hailing from lord knows where. They didn’t talk about their pasts much. Everyone had enough skeletons to last them this lifetime and then some, talking about it would change nothing._

_She had been disappointed in the beginning, the physical lust being trampled down into warm embers but as they spent more time together they became close, closer than what was considered conventional. Their gender wasn’t an issue to them and the attraction between them was overwhelming despite the age gap of twelve years or so._

_Since then, Anne and Mary had been inseparable. They ate together, slept together, plundered and looted sloops together, fought together. The talks of the their bravery and ruthlessness started to make rounds and benefitted the captain as other ships started to cower at the mere mention of the duo’s name, Bonny and Read. No one except their Captain knew about their gender and everyone else considered them to be men._

_The two female stepped onto the deck, now they could hear the men clearly, boisterous and drunk out of their minds. The party had moved from the shore to the deck. Some were passed around on the deck in various places, few sang loudly. They stepped around the lying ones and made it out into the open._

_She looked up at the Jolly Roger swaying in the gentle breeze above William. The skull and the two swords crossing below it, painted in white on a black cloth, glowed in the moonlight. She smirked at the swords. It symbolized them, the two women._

_Her gaze travelled from the flag to the horizon and she flinched, taken aback. She narrowed her eyes and she was hollering the next second, trying to wake up the dead men._

_The governor’s flag on the other ship was raised. The bastards had snooped up on them from the other side of the cove. It was fight or die._

_“Who is the leader?”_

_The question made her ready her weapons, a cutlass and a pistol in either hand. She watched as Mary did the same, eyes determined. Now it was their Captain’s turn._

_“John Rackham from Cuba.”_

_She heard John’s response, she heard the false bravado in it and disgust painted all over her face._

_“Surrender, John “Calico Jack” Rackham.” The order was absolute. Her ire flared at that. A pirate hunter daring to order them. She chose war and ordered to fire the loaded swivel guns. The men weren’t in their best shape but it will have to do._

_The guns thundered and the ship shuddered with the impact. But they were not ready to take the counterattack as the answering fire was immediate and it collided with the wood, shrapnel flew all around her and she ducked behind some barrels as to not get hit._

_As the impact subsided, she jumped into the chaos and fought, along with Mary, their cutlasses swinging around, slicing anything that dared to aboard their sploot, their pistols blazing as bullets flew all over. She heard her lover scream at the men hiding in the hold._

_“If there’s a man among ye, ye’ll come up and fight like the man ye are to be!”_

_The cretins refused, too drunk and scared to fight. She heard a gunshot and turned to see that Mary had shot into the hold, at their own men. Good, they were of no use anyway. Cowards, all of them!_

_But three men were of no match to the unwelcome boarders. William was overtaken in minutes, the whole crew taken captive as their captain signalled surrender and called for a quarter._

_Her disgust and rage increased._

_On November 18, 1720 nine of their crew, including Calico Jack was hanged._

_She remembered walking down the prison hallway to meet him before he was executed. A man she once loved and respected was nothing but a coward in her eyes. She wondered how Mary was and whether she’d be there too but she was told that Calico Jack’s last wish was to see her alone._

_She stood in front of him, not sparing him a glance. He didn’t deserve her attention._

_“If you had fought like a man, you need not have been hang’d like a dog.” Her words were still echoing around the chamber when she turned her back on the man she once loved._

_Ten days later, she was on trial. That’s when she saw Mary again. Her heart wrenched at the gaunt condition of her lover and she barely managed to resist herself from running into the older women’s arms. Despite the odds stacked against them, they stood in front of the court, their heads high._

_“Not guilty”. The women pleaded._

_But the testimonies began and the evidence against them kept piling. The verdict was unanimous. The judge read it, every word clear and loud as the two women stared at each other, their eyes grieving over how it all ended, their time together cut short abruptly._

_“You Mary Read, and Ann Bonny, alias Bonn, are to go from hence to the Place from whence you came, and from thence to the Place of Execution; where you, shall be severally hang’d by the Neck, till you are severally Dead.”_

♦

**2018**

Junmyeon pulled out the contents of the small box and stared at it for some time. He had been hiding it from Chanyeol for the past week. It wasn’t on purpose really; he just didn’t get the time or the right opportunity to approach his boyfriend with this.

Maybe soon he will or maybe he will chicken out last minute like he always did. It’s not like he had any doubts, it’s just that he didn’t know how conventional his way was and he was scared he would somehow disappoint Chanyeol with it.

“Love, are you done?” The knock on the door startled him and he quickly placed the objects back in the cushioned box and closed the lid, stuffing the box in his jacket pocket. He had been carrying it around everywhere with him. There was always a chance of Chanyeol finding it by chance. His giant boyfriend had an uncanny ability to be everywhere he was not supposed to be.

“We are going to be late.” This time Chanyeol pounded on the bathroom door and Junmyeon rolled his eyes.

“I am coming.” He opened the door with a jerk and moved around his boyfriend going straight for the steps that led down into the small café they owned. Louder footsteps thumped behind him as Chanyeol followed. Before exiting the stairway, Junmyeon quickly hopped once, placing a quick kiss on Chanyeol’s lips. 

“You were kissing in there again, were you not?” Accusatory tone assailed their eardrums the moment they locked the stairway entrance behind them.

Chanyeol gasped dramatically loud and beat Junmyeon into speaking.

“Not me, Seok.” Junmyeon watched in shock as his lover betrayed him, eyes wide and innocent, head shaking, one finger pointing at him. “Him. It was him.”

Minseok, their head chef, their _only_ chef, gave him a disgusted look before heading back into the kitchen. Chanyeol gave him puppy eyes and pouts which he ignored by setting up the place before it opened for the day.

Eterni-Tea. The café that sold everything but tea. This joint business venture was a pure stroke of chance.

Minseok had returned after his acquiring his degree in Culinary Arts and was looking for investors to open up a small restaurant in their town. He had asked the couple to hook him up with someone who might be able to help him and the two had thought about it before accepting the offer themselves. Minseok had been equally stunned as he was grateful but the two had explained it to him that they loved his idea and were willing to give it a go.

The financial investment came from all three and everything they made was divided into four: Minseok, Junmyeon, Chanyeol and the other expenses, roughly.

Chanyeol was involved in the financial capacity only for now but he helped them out on holidays and weekends, when his permanent job gave him some slack. He was paid for working on these days. He was recently promoted to the teaching Faculty of the Life Sciences department at the community college and his work load had surprisingly decreased which meant he was earning more on his side job at the café.

Junmyeon, on the other hand, had resigned from his temporary vacancy at the same community college. He taught Geography. As their café had picked up, he had decided to dedicate his time towards it.

The café was situated a little away from the college which made it a popular hangout spot amongst the students. They also hired help from time to time and provided for the students who had difficult financial situations. They currently had three working with them and would be joining them in few.

Deciding on the location had been the easiest part. The apartment complex the couple resided in had one empty apartment on the ground floor which they had invested in as soon as the idea was up and running. They had knocked down the walls between the rooms to create an open space for the café and renovated it to suit their tastes and requirements.

While these three were settled in their childhood town, Kyungsoo had made it big in the city and the entertainment industry. As he got more projects, the rarer it became to see him but Kyungsoo went out of his way to stay in contact with them.

He watched Minseok through the glass separating the sitting area from the kitchen and nodded to himself as he got ready to man the desk. Today was Sunday, so they would have a brunch rush and then it would cool down during the afternoons a little bit and they would be able to relax.

Chanyeol puckered his lips from the other side of his desk and Junmyeon shoved his face away. “Oh no. After you threw me under the bus an hour ago? No. Go away.” He shooed the other away.

Chanyeol’s whines were not given any attention and he focused on writing today’s menu on the small blackboard and placed it on the corner of the counter. Chanyeol went and turned the plaque hanging outside on the glass door and they were on for the day.

Soon two familiar bedheads came inside and shuffled towards him.

“Good Morning, Professor Kim.”

Junmyeon laughed at the title and was already printing the receipts. “I am not your professor anymore, Sungho.” These students were adorable. He didn’t understand what monsters Chanyeol complained about. He handed the receipts to the two boys who took their usual seats in the far corner and slid the order to the kitchen.

He hopped on the balls of his feet as more people started to trickle in. This was going to be a busy day.

Afternoon came in with fewer customers and that meant more time to stare at Chanyeol who looked gorgeous in his white shirt tucked in a pair of black trousers. Junmyeon thoroughly enjoyed the way that shirt spanned over the broad shoulders.

“Professor, I can’t connect to the wifi.” A voice disturbed his perusal time and he focused on the owner of it.

“It should though. Did you put in the correct password, Ara?” He asked checking the connectivity.

“Yes...well...how many Rs is it? Maybe I miscounted them?”

“Seventeen.” Junmyeon replied immediately and watched the girl type it in. A moment later, she was nodding her head.

“Yes, got it!” She bowed her head and was about to turn away when she spoke again. “But why is the password ‘Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!’ today, Prof.?”

Junmyeon couldn’t help but laugh at the way she pronounced the password.

“Because Junmyeon finds it funny how people think pirates used to say that when they never did.” Chanyeol’s voice piqued in as he passed by with plates in his hands. Junmyeon stood there with his jaw open in shock and Chanyeol walked by again, this time towards the kitchen. “They also never used the term ‘Ahoy, Matey’.”

“H-How do you know that?” Junmyeon stuttered.

“I listen when you speak.” When Junmyeon looked stunned and Chanyeol scoffed at the expression. “Of course, I do. I listen to everrryyyyything you say. I remember, that day I was grading the papers and you were muttering about it and giggling to yourself. You had a strand of hair standing up on your head and it was so cute.”

Chanyeol sighed dreamily and that pushed Junmyeon into action as he fumbled through his pockets looking for that damn box. He almost dropped the box in hurry but managed to open it.

“Raawrr.” Junmyeon roared softly and Chanyeol looked at him in confusion, the box still unnoticed. “Let’s spend this lifetime together too.”

Junmyeon smirked in satisfaction as Chanyeol’s beautiful eyes widened in shock. He shoved the small box in his boyfriend’s face, displaying the contents of the box.

It was a pair of charms. Small identical silver curved swords, simple yet beautiful and held a lot of meaning for them.

“No...” Chanyeol’s whisper doused his excitement, first with confusion and then with dread.

“What? Why no?” Junmyeon’s voice raised an octave. “WHY NO? I know these aren’t the rings but we can get them too if you want. I just thought these can join our collection- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

At first he freaked out because Chanyeol crumpled on his knees and he reached out to support the taller, the box of charms closed now, in his fist. Junmyeon’s eyes furrowed as Chanyeol swatted his hands away and opened a box of his own. Chanyeol’s calm voice did nothing to placate him.

“You cannot do this to me when I have been carrying around this box for years, waiting for the perfect moment to propose. I love you, Junjun but no, I am not giving you that.” Junmyeon’s mind was reeling as the box was extended towards him. They both sighed at the same time and that led to them chuckling. “So, Kim Junmyeon, maybe you are tired of being together for so long—”

“Never!” His answer was ready.

Chanyeol shook his head and their smiles widened with each word. “—but I truly cannot see all those eternities without you, the ones that passed and the ones we will live. So let’s make this one memorable too. For me.” Chanyeol winked playfully and Junmyeon rolled his eyes at the dork. “For us.”

Chanyeol’s eyes softened and so did Junmyeon’s shoulders.

“Let’s live a mundane life for once. What do you say hm?”

Junmyeon’s squeal was so loud that Minseok came running outside towards the group of people gathered around near the counter.

“I’d love that, Yeollie. If I ever wanted to live a boring life with someone, then it was always you. It’ll always be you, without a question, without a doubt.”

Minseok quickly grabbed his phone and started clicking pictures as the couple slid the rings onto each other’s fingers then immediately opened another box and clasped the charms on each other’s wristbands. He wiped his tears off while the customers cooed over the couple lying on the floor hugging each other tight. He pocketed his phone and jumped on the pile, two “oofs” followed immediately.

“Kyungsoo is going to be pissed he missed this.”

♦

“Jun?” He opened his eyes when his shuffling hands didn’t find his future husband’s warmth. He blinked as the bedside lamp shed light on him. He sat up concerned because Junmyeon was peering at something, head bent down, soft murmurs barely audible. “What are you doing?”

“The ring, Yeol.” Junmyeon looked at him, eyes shining and Chanyeol got a whiplash from the beautiful sight, Junmyeon’s naked torso and ruffled hair bathed in the yellow glow emanating from the lamp. “It’s beautiful.”

His hand was pulled so he was leaning towards Junmyeon and their palms were side by side, the white gold matching bands glinting in the light. The bands were adorned with the Claddagh and Celtic Knotwork pattern. The intricate pattern repeated around the whole circle with a milgrain detailing on each side of the ring. Chanyeol’s was a bit wider than Junmyeon’s, perfectly complimenting their respective hand sizes.

“Love, Loyalty, Friendship and—“

“Eternity, yes I know.” Junmyeon’s enthralled tone amused Chanyeol.

“But you don’t know this.” As Chanyeol took off his ring, Junmyeon’s brows furrowed but he did the same, holding both the bands so they could see the same inscription carved on the inside. Junmyeon gasped.

**_mr i Tw_ **

The calligraphy was sophisticated and looped at the center of the inside of the ring.

“I love you.” Junmyeon murmured, repeating the inscription in the language of the time they currently lived in as he placed the bands on the bedside table and pushed Chanyeol, pressing his naked body on the bed.

“I love you too.” Chanyeol murmured back, flipping them so that he was above Junmyeon.

The night dissolved into breathy moans, shaky breaths and the inscription repeated in different languages that existed across the time and all over the globe.

◾♦◾

**_6 June 1944 (D-Day), France, Normandy_ **

_He didn't remember what happened after their plane got hit right before the drop zone. All he remembered with utmost clarity was that red light turning into green while the back of the plane exploded and a wave of sound and heat surrounded him instantly._

_If he would be asked about what he thought in that particular moment all he would answer with would be 'the green light on the side of the door'. The moment he had seen it, he had jumped, hoping the others will follow._

_He didn't know how many of them made it._

_He didn't even remember seeing the small explosions of 88s and M24s and other artillery when he was falling, his chute open, interally praying to not get hit midair. Ironically their song kept playing in his head at that time..._

**_“There was blood upon the risers, there were brains upon the chute_ **

**_Intestines were a-dangling from his paratroopers suit_ **

**_He was a mess, they picked him up, and poured him from his boots_ **

**_And he ain't gonna jump no more_ **

**_Gory, gory, what a hellu’va way to die....”_ **

_It was a hell of a way to die, getting pancaked on the ground. He didn’t want that. If he could, he wanted to survive the whole war._

_He often wondered why, out of all the songs the Paratroopers could choose, this one was picked. He was sure that everyone who joined the Parachute Infantry was a little loopy in the head, him included._

_When the recruitments for the army were happening, no one responded to the call of: “Who would like to volunteer for the airborne?” No one knew what it was. No one cared. The thing that pushed most of them was the incentive. “You get paid 50$ a month more.”_

_The 50$ extra made it 100 in total and with that the hands shot up in the air, volunteers lining up to join the 101 st Airborne. They often joked about it in the barracks during their training period._

_Fortunately, the training kicked in but so did his survival instincts and he landed on the ground, rolling to lessen the landing impact and not break his bones before he had even seen some action._

_That's when the sounds came all rushing to him. The explosions, the continuous gunfire, the screams._

_On his knees, he unstrapped his chute, ready to jump into combat as he was trained to do, staying at the same place was not an option if he wanted to survive. He needed to move and he needed to move fast._

_He pulled at the string attached to his leg, expecting to see a sack that weighed as much as he did attached at the end of it. What he got was the rope frayed at the end and the sack nowhere to be seen. He grunted in frustration, the sound low, careful not to give away his position in case any Krauts were around._

_He didn’t have a weapon or a map. He didn’t know where he landed or where he needed to go to reach his predetermined objective. What he had though, was his knife, which he wielded, without hesitation as he heard a scuffle nearby._

_You gotta do what you gotta do, Ramirez, he told himself as he slowly moved through the tall grass, trying his best to not make any sound. It was almost impossible since the grass was dry._

_He peeked through the overgrowth and saw a man struggling with his gear._

_“Flash.” He whispered. The code slipping past his lips without any effort._

_“Ah shit!” The man exclaimed and he moved forward._

_“You know what the response for ‘Flash’ should be right, Trooper?” He would have smiled at the soldier’s response if they hadn’t been fighting for their lives._

_“Yes, Sir. Thunder, Sir.”_

_He nodded and continued. “Where’s your leg bag?”_

_“Lost it the moment that prop blast hit, Sir.”_

_He cursed internally. At least they had one gun between themselves._

_“What’s your name trooper?”_

_“Wilson, Sir.”_

_“Okay, Wilson, follow me.” He picked a direction, vaguely remembering the sand table they were asked to memorize. The dark wasn’t doing them any good and they didn’t have a flashlight to check the compass he had brought along. “We have to regroup. Watch out for any signs that could tell us about our whereabouts. Roadsigns, shop plaques, trees...”_

_They chuckled at the lame joke because they were surrounded by trees but you learn to cope with the situation any which way and humour worked wonders._

_They walked a little and he signaled the man to halt. From their vantage point they could see a German 88 firing._

_“Wait for them to reload.” He instructed waiting for the gun to pause in its assault so they could make a run for it. The moment it stopped, they tried to move forward but the 88 started firing again and he turned around, grabbing Wilson’s jacket. “To hell with it. We go this way.”_

_They walked alongside the tree line and ended up on a rail track, which led to where they had no idea._

_“Aren’t you Dog Company?” He asked as they settled in to see if anyone passed by._

_“Baker, Sir.”_

_He hissed at the response._

_“If I am Baker and you are Easy, Sir,” The man started, fidgeting. “Who came into whose drop zone? We are lost, Sir.”_

_He chuckled._

_“We are not lost, Private. We are in Normandy.”_

_Soon after that they met up with a ragtag group of people, some from his own company, and some from whole another battalion. They had been dropped all over Normandy regardless of their drop zones._

_They walked towards their objective, which was the Battalion HQ near Sainte-Mère-Église. By the time they reached there, the sun was rising. Upon meeting up with others from Easy, he was told to report at the headquarters because his superior was nowhere to be seen as of yet and so he would be standing in as the Commander of the Easy for the time being._

_He received the orders to destroy the four 88s stationed in a field at the roadways. They were firing at Utah Beach and that made it difficult for their troops to head inland. Despite having less men, he explained the strategy and they headed on their first mission armed with whatever they could get their hands on and some TNT to destroy the guns._

_They entered the trenches and from there on everything went according to their plan. Taking out the first two guns was easier than expected, the other two not so much. They were on one side of the field while the Germans on the other, shooting at them._

_They were running out of ammo and the arrival of D Company with extra ammo served as a boost of morale for them._

_“Mind if the D Company takes shot at the other gun?” The lieutenant asked him and he shrugged._

_“All yours!”_

_While the D company moved through the trench to reach the third gun, he focused his binoculars on it, diagonal to his position, across the field and saw....him._

_The blonde man was wearing a Kraut uniform but for some reason his heart ached and jumped in his chest, the feeling of deep kinship blossoming in his heart so much so that the he dropped his weapon and scrambled out of his position. The man was broader than him, looked older than him and most importantly he was the enemy. No one would understand but he didn’t care._

_Before he knew it, he was halfway across the field, running like his life depended on it. He pumped his legs and arms faster as the man did the same and ran towards him. The urge to throw himself in the man’s arms was crushing his psyche._

_At first nothing happened, soldiers on both the sides were too shocked to do anything but then he saw bullets flying around him. The pieces of wet dirt flew everywhere._

_He watched with trepidation as the distance between the bullets and the man became smaller and smaller. He screamed._

_“NO!”_

_He never saw the bullets aimed at him._

_Thwack thwack thwack the bullets went as they hit two bodies in the middle of the field and red mist sprayed out._

_The silence that followed was broken up by two bodies falling on the wet ground, motionless._

♦

**2021**

Junmyeon gasped and looked around for Chanyeol.

“Yeol? CHANYEOL?!” He screamed between his sobs. He didn’t hear the thundering footsteps but he felt the arms around him and he sobbed harder.

He broke down again and again not being able to forget what he saw. Chanyeol held him through it.

Later, he lay on the sofa curled up again, his body exhausted. Chanyeol waited patiently for him to speak, kissing the top of his head from time to time.

“It was horrible.”

Chanyeol hummed. He was listening.

“Why do we have to remember? I don’t want to remember!”

Chanyeol stroked the back of his head. His response barely audible. “Shhh. I know. I know. All those lives...they matter. They’re a part of us so they matter but we, here and now, we matter more. We can’t do anything about those people except keep them alive in our memories and grieve the loss we suffered but we can do so much more in this life.”

Junmyeon wiped his nose on Chanyeol’s shirt before speaking again through a hiccup. One more word from Junmyeon and Chanyeol inhaled, sharp.

“Normandy.”

Their embrace around each other tightened as they grieved for the two people who never got a chance to see a world free of war, destruction and death.

◾♦◾

**2026**

Chanyeol sighed and dropped his head on the steering wheel.

“We’ll be fine.” He heard his husband and turned his head to look at him. Junmyeon fidgeted in the passenger seat beside him. “We’ll be fine.” Junmyeon repeated and their eyes met.

“What if the kids hate us? What if no one picks us?” He asked and Junmyeon scrunched his nose.

“Impossible. Hating you is impossible. They are going to love you.” He puckered his lips and Junmyeon leaned closer to kiss it.

“And they’re going to fall in love with you.” Chanyeol’s words were whispered on Junmyeon’s lips.

“It’s settled then. We are going to be just fine.” He saw Junmyeon nod and copied the gesture, although with less surety.

Nervous but excited they alighted the car and entered the orphanage.

♦

The couple were at the Arrivals, all bundled up and waiting to receive their best friend. Minseok was closing up their place and preparing stuff for Kyungsoo’s arrival.

“Baby, just a few more minutes. “ Junmyeon said, his voice low as he swayed the child in his arms, gently, from side to side. Their daughter wasn’t a fuzzy baby but the cold was making her cranky.

Chanyeol leaned down and kissed the soft tendrils of baby hair that escaped from the tiny bunny cap and adjusted it, tying it securely again. The white-pink bunny ears flopped in two different directions, making the child look more adorable.

“Where is he, Yeol?” In Chanyeol’s opinion, his husband was more cranky than their daughter was.

“He’ll be here, Jun. I am sure celebrities take their time with this stuff—“ Junmyeon looked at the taller who stopped abruptly and followed his gaze.

“Yeol, can you hold her please?” Junmyeon transferred the child to Chanyeol's arms, quickly but carefully and clapped his hands, once before he started running, “MY BABY!” and jumped into Kyungsoo’s open arms.

Chanyeol followed him at a normal pace. “You see that, Byeolbun? That’s Papa’s baby. That’s your uncle Soo.”

The child looked up at her dad and tilted her head, understanding nothing and Chanyeol’s fondness for the small being filled his heart to the brim.

“Hey, Soo. Nice of you to show up before we actually froze to death.” Chanyeol’s greeting was scoffed at by both the smaller people. The baby made a gurgling sound and all the attention shifted to her. Upon noticing that, the girl snuggled into her father’s neck, shy and hiding from the stranger who was looking at her with his big eyes.

“She is beautiful, you guys.” Kyungsoo’s compliment made their chests puff up with pride. They both sniffled.

“Soo, meet Byeol Kim-Park.”

“Byeol.” Kyungsoo repeated the name and this time, Byeol looked at him through her long eyelashes, smiling at him.

Kyungsoo would never admit it to them but he cried the first time she held his pinky finger, tightly, in her small hand in the back seat of couple's car while they bantered in the front.

“What am I? Your uber?” Chanyeol complained as they drove towards their home.

“Pfft. No, silly. You’re my personal chauffeur.” Junmyeon’s sassy reply made him smile, although his eyes were still shiny from the remaining few unshed tears.

◾♦◾

**2027**

The couple laughed as their baby girl rolled on her side. Her toothy giggles filling the nursery and their hearts with infinite joy. Their fond gazes followed her as she crawled around her playing pen, perusing the toys one by one, deciding which one to chew on today.

They had decided to paint the nursery with different earthy tones and paired them with ivory white walls and a rattan crib. It looked vintage and cozy at the same time.

Little Byeol had joined their family of two a year ago. She was supposed to turn two in a few weeks. She was already a terror and was spoiled by her uncles and grandparents. She had taken a particular liking to Kyungsoo and they had never seen the actor act as affectionate with anyone else as he did with her.

She had become an instant celebrity at Eterni-Tea because Junmyeon usually brought her with him while working. Chanyeol often complained about not being able to take her to the college with him as much.

Junmyeon crawled behind her, roaring noises in tow, and pounced on her making Byeol squeal. The noises got louder as Junmyeon rubbed his nose on her soft cheeks.

“Stop eating my daughter’s cheeks.” Chanyeol said as he joined and started tickling both of them.

“Daddy is a meanie, Byeol.” Junmyeon swatted Chanyeol’s hands away and pouted. “They are so soft though.” He snuggled the baby’s cheek again and Chanyeol did the same on the other one.

“Yours are the same.” Chanyeol responded and then did the same to Junmyeon’s cheek earning another swatting.

“Get away from me!” But Chanyeol didn’t relent.

Byeol escaped her father’s grip and sat on her butt, giggling and clapping her small, chubby hands as she watching them scuffle.

◾♦◾

**2054**

“Love, have you seen my glasses?” Chanyeol asked as he upturned a pile of papers on the table, hoping to find his spectacles. He lost them on daily basis nowadays. “I have been searching for them but I can’t find them.” He dropped beside his husband on the couch who was squinting at the television. “Please help me find them, Junjun.”

“Of course, I will help you, Yeollie.” Junmyeon squinted harder, his eyes turning into slits, trying to read the smaller font on the screen. “But let me find mine first.”

Byeol shook her head as her fathers forgot again that one of them had his glasses dangling around his neck while the other had his fixed it on his head.

◾♦◾

**2076**

Two bony hands sat knotted between two old people who sat on a bench and watched their grandchildren run around in the park. The pink-orange hues of sunset coloured their white hair in different shades.

The hands were significantly different in size. One smaller, fingers stubbier while the other larger, fingers thicker and longer. Their wrists were adorned with different charms...some identical, some not; wolf paws, a penguin and an arctic tern, a mammoth and a whale, an erupting volcano, miniature knights crosses, miniature dog tags and many more.

“I am happy.” The smaller man said, placing his head on his husband’s shoulder.

“Me too.” The taller reacted instantly, sliding a little lower on the bench to make their position more comfortable for his husband so the other won’t have to stretch his neck too much.

“What do you think awaits us in our next life? Will there be a next one, I wonder.”

The taller took some time to respond.

“I don’t know...” He pulled his husband closer, “but whatever it is, no matter what or where or when, you’ll find me or I’ll find you and that’s all that matters. Being together is all that matters.”

They were smiling, both of them, eyes shining and content.

◾THE END◾

**Author's Note:**

> • The barn owl was the first owl to come into existence and it is implied that the owls were not a night-time prowlers before that specific firefly incident.  
> • It’s difficult to gather transliteration of the Ancient Egyptian terms since they used hieroglyphs but I managed to narrow down their meanings. Saying that, I could be totally off the mark too.  
> • [Akhenaten and Smenkhkare as well as how these names are related to the renowned King Tut.](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2010/09/tut-dna/)  
> • I am neither brave nor stupid enough to touch Dante Alighieri’s masterpieces so, for authenticity purposes I am using the parts from La Vita Nuova as it is, word by word. If you can, please make sure to give his original works some attention. They are worth it. [More on Dante and Beatrice.](https://www.florenceinferno.com/beatrice-portinari/)  
> • [ The real story of Anne Bonny and Mary Read. ](https://www.postandcourier.com/news/the-true-and-false-stories-of-anne-bonny-pirate-woman-of-the-caribbean/article_e7fc1e2c-101d-11e8-90b7-9fdf20ba62f8.html)  
> • The WWII part was inspired from Band of Brothers, a show based on the book by the same name. The song mentioned is titled “The Blood Upon the Risers”. [You can listen to it here. ](https://open.spotify.com/track/7o0S7enSfLUZNPyHDlKzjC?si=kmmaVjdQTs2E9UPqPORvig)
> 
> Finally, my heartfelt gratitude to the mods, my betas and you, the readers who took a chance on this one.


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